Phototype composing machine with rotary character drum

ABSTRACT

A phototype composing machine having a continuously rotating character drum and a continuously moving line composing carriage is disclosed. The arrangement is such that by varying the carriage speed and the position from which a character is projected from the drum, the image of the character will be properly located on the recording medium.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,721,165 Knoli 5]March 20, 1973 [54]PHOTOTYPE COMPOSING MACHINE 3,422,736 1/1969 Moyroud et al ..95/4.5 WITHROTARY CHARACTER DRUM 3,303,764 2/ 1967 Kudlicki et a1. ....95/4.53,218,945 11/1965 O'Brien et a1. ..95/4.5 [76] Inventor: Alois Knoll,Bahnhofstrasse 33, 3,183,806 5/1965 O'Brien et a1. ..95/4.5 079guchschlag, Germany 3,122,074 2/ 1964 O'Brien ..95/4.5 2,966,836 1/1961Higonnet et a1 ..95/4.5 [22] Filed: Dec. 1, 1970 Primary Examiner-RobertP. Greiner [211 939% Attorney-William P. Keegan [30] Foreign ApplicationPriority Data ABSTRACT Dec.1 1969 Germany ..P 19 60 161.7 A Phototypecomposing machine having a ously rotating character drum and acontinuously moving line composing carriage is disclosed. The ar- [52]15.51. ..95/4.5 R museum! is such that by varying the carriage Speed [5litand the position from a character is projected [58] Fleld of Search..95/4.5 from the drum, the image of the charabter will be properlylocated on the recording medium. [56] References Cited 4 Claims, 1Drawing Figure UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,450,014 6/1969 Astley ..95/4.5

l w 25 4 1- 11 71 -7 11 U V 10 & a [L 30s. kWh-i 11- max PATENTED MAR 20I973 I'TIOX PROTOTYPE COMPOSING MACHINE WITH ROTARY CHARACTER DRUM Theinvention relates to a phototype composing machine having a rotarycharacter drum and a carriage for composing the type lines, saidcarriage being continuously transportable along a line for the purposeof placing images of exposed characters in side by side relationship ona sensitized sheet. Since the character drum and the line composingcarriage are both con tinuously moving, there is provided means foradapting the carriage speed to the incremental speed of the characterspreviously exposed, storage means for determining the instant of flashin dependence on the width of the exposed line as well as in dependenceon the carriage position and of the set values of the letters remainingto be exposed. There is also a comparator having an input connectionwith the aforesaid storage means and with a register that indicates theposition of the carriage. The output of said comparator communicateswith a logical switching network that combines the output value of thecomparator and a value corresponding to the position of the characterdrum to effect operation of the flash lamp to expose a selectedcharacter.

According to a known phototype composing machine, storage or memorymeans are provided in which all characters of a line are stored and theset values of the characters are red-out for calculation of theinterword spaces needed to justify the line. The positions or widths ofthe characters to be exposed, are supplied to registers associated witheach character and the outputs of such registers are corrected with acomparator that compares the widths of said characters with the positionof a continuously moving line composing carriage. The output of thecomparator is connected with logical switching network. Such logicalswitching network is furthermore connected with the output of anadditional comparator, where the locations of the letters on the drum,as measured from a reference station, are detected by scanning ofmarkings on the drum. As means for adapting the carriage speed to theincremental speed of the exposed line, a counter is provided whichcounts the number of exposures dur ing each drum revolution, the speedof a driving motor for the carriage being regulated accordingly.

In connection with the above phototype composing machine, the comparatorthus receives singularize informations from each of the registers aboutthe position of a character within a line and successively compares itwith the information received as to the carriage position at eachinstant. For the purpose of timing the exposure, which is by means of acathode ray tube, the comparison results are received by the logicalswitching network which is supplied with the output values of thecomparator for the drum position and the output values representing thepositional locations of the specific characters with respect to thereference station on the drum. The timing of the exposure and thedisplacement of the bright zone of the cathode ray tube are regulated bythe logical switching network in accordance with the information fed tothe network. Since data about several letters are processed in parallel,the sequence of exposures need not necessarily correspond to thesequence of characters within a line. The composing speed for such asystem is limited by the advance speed of the carriage which depends onthe number of exposures during a past drum revolution. The result isthat the carriage speed may be determined almost correctly for the nextsucceeding drum revolution. This is possible, from a practicalstandpoint, only when composing straight matter, i.e., text matter ofone point size and a single type style. When changing type size orconsidering other interruptions in line composition, there is the dangerof displacing the zone of exposure by the continuously actuated carriageto such an extent that any balancing by timing the flash is no longerpossible.

The present invention is based on the problem of achieving a maximumpossible composing speed by increasing the speed of the carriage usedfor line composing purposes. The increase in composing speed is achievedby varying the speed of a continuously moving carriage andsimultaneously controlling the instant at which the selected characteris exposed so that the carriage will be speeded up when a wide characteris to be exposed and slowed down when a narrow character is to beexposed.

In carrying out the invention in a phototype composing machine having arotary character drum and a line composing carriage, both of which arein continuous motion, the problem is solved in the following way. A lineregister is provided to store the cumulated character widths of theexposed line. This information is compared to a count corresponding tothe position of the line composing carriage, and the difference invalues is fed to a so-called adding device. Also a maximum value controlmechanism is provided which has an input for the width value of the nextcharacter to be exposed. The character width value is fed to asubtracting device where it is subtracted from a specific value, e.g.,the width of an em quad, with the remainder fed through a second inputto the adding device. The output of said adding device then controls thecarriage driving device as well as the device for determining the zonethrough which a character can be exposed from the character drum. Thislatter device is an apertured plate through which the light from aselectively exposed character passes to the optical projection systemand the sensitized sheet on which the character image is recorded. Theaperture permits only the light passing through the selected characterto reach the sensitized sheet, and the character is exposed by flashinga light source as the selected character on the rotating drum reachesthe optical axis of the optical projection system. The position of therecorded image can be shifted by timing the flash of the light source soas to expose the selected character either before or after it reachesthe optical axis. The aperture will similarly be shifted so as to allowonly the light passing through the selected character to reach thesensitized sheet. The permissable range for shifting the aperture iscalled the range of exposure and it is limited, for example, to two emquads of the maximum composable type size so as to avoid imagedistortions caused by exposing characters too far off the optic axis.

The phototype composing machine according to the present inventionoperates on the principle that a regulation of the carriage speed of thecontinuously displaceable carriage is carried out in consideration ofthe set values and spaces of several characters succeeding a letterpreviously exposed. The advance speed of the carriage is adjusted insuch a way that the widest character of the characters following theexposed one may be definitely projected within the range of exposure.The remaining maximum possible portion of the range of exposurecorresponds to that portion where the carriage is allowed to fall behindthe subsequent line increment before the carriage has been acceleratedto the corresponding higher speed. When exposing selected characters,particularly those of relatively great width, which closely follow oneanother on the character drum, a further drum revolution must be lessfrequently waited because until the range of exposure is sufficientlylarge so as to permit the aperture to be shifted to a position whichtogether with the timing of the light source flash compensates for theactual position of the carriage which otherwise would not be properlylocated. Since, on the other hand, the maximum set value of thesubsequent characters is taken into consideration, the carriage need notbe decelerated for exposure of such character. On the whole, thecarriage thus runs with maximum permissible speed. Any instabilityfactors are practically eliminated in this connection. An optimumadvance speed is thus achieved by adjusting the maximum possible advancespeed with a specific allowance for time, which permits betterutilization of the range of exposure by selection of the flash instant.

As concerns this phototype composing machine, a line register isprovided which is supplied with the width value of the already exposedcharacters in a line. The output of the line register and the output ofa positional register for the carriage are always communicating with thecomparator so that any troubles by error propagation are eliminated.Besides being connected with the line register, the set value storage isalso connected with the maximum value control mechanism, which issupplied with the set values of the subsequent characters in a line andthe spaces between them. The maximum value control mechanism transfersthe maximum set value of the characters succeeding the specificcharacter having been exposed lastly, to the subtraction device, wheresaid value is subtracted from a specific value. The balance enters theadding device. The carriage drive and the motion of a device forlimiting that range of the character drum which is reproduced on therecord means, are controlled by the output value of the adding device.Such range limiting device may be constructed as a displaceableapertured plate.

Features and advantages of the invention may be gained from theforegoing and from the description of a preferred embodiment of theinvention which follows.

In the sole figure of the drawing, the electrical circuitry for carryingout the invention is shown in schematic, block diagram form.

In the drawing the reference numberal 1 refers to a character drumrotating in the direction of arrow. inside the drum, there is anexposure device or flash lamp 2. In the path of the light rays comingfrom lamp 2, lenses 3, 4, and are provided which serve, respectively,for collection of the light, for collimation of the beam of raysprojected through the character drum 2 and imaging a projected characteronto the sensitized sheet 6. The path of rays of the optical system isillustrated by its optical axis. Lens 5 is rigidly mounted on a carriage7, which also carried a reflector 8 for deflection of the path of thelight rays. Through a driving device 9, carriage 7 is continuouslydisplaceable. A lined screen piece 10 is connected to the carriage, and,when the carriage is moved, passes between a source of light 11 and aphotodiode 12.

The electrical equipment of the phototype composing machine covers apositional register 13 for the carriage, which communicates withphotodiode 12. in correspondence with the movement of the carriage 7 thescreen 10, the photo-diode will for instance produce one impulse foreach one forty-eighth of an em quad of the smallest type size thecarriage 7 moves. Furthermore, a line register M is provided, whoseinput may be supplied with the width values of all characters and spacesof a line as they are exposed. The register 14, therefore, has a valueat any instant of the cumulated character widths and spaces of thecharacters already exposed. An output 16 is led to a comparator 17 whichis moreover connected with the positional register 13. 0ver the output16 of the line register, information is delivered in correspondence withthe exposed line section. The input of the line register communicateswith a character width value storage device 15, which is coordinatedwith a line storage 15a intended for coding the characters and spaces ofone line. The width value storage device 15 may be either constructed asstorage with permanent wiring or else as magnetic drum storage device.The output 18 of the width value storage device 15 is connected with amaximum value control mechanism 19, which is supplied with the widthvalues of the subsequent n characters to be exposed. In practice, thevalue of n will preferably be at least 2. Or, in other words, if themaximum value control mechanism is supplied with the set value of acharacter to be exposed, the same width enters the line register, whereit is added to the width values of the previously exposed characters andspaces. The output value of the maximum value control mechanism issubtracted in a subtraction device 20 from a value supplied to the input21 of the subtraction device, which corresponds to the value of one emquad of the maximum point size that can be reproduced in the machine.The remainder enters an adding device 22, which is additionally suppliedwith the output value of comparator 17 Depend ing on the total, drivingdevice 9 of the carriage as well as driving means 24 of a movablediaphragm 25 are regulated over an amplifier 23.

To select a desired character prior to its entrance into the zone ofexposure, a source of light 26, a photodiode 27 as well as a codecomparator 28 are provided. The code of the selected character to beexposed is supplied to an input 29. The output of the code comparator isconnected with a positional register 30 for the drum.

The output of positional register 30 for the drum as well as that ofcomparator 17 for the deviation of the carriage position lead to acomparator 31. The output of comparator 31 communicates with an ignitionswitch 32 supplying the exposure energy for exposure device 2 at thecorrect point of time, when the deviation of the carriage positioncorresponds to that of the drum position.

What is claimed is:

1. A phototype composing machine having a continuously rotatingcharacter carrier, aperture means through which a selected character isprojected, and a continuously moving carriage mechanism for puttingcharacter images on a sensitized sheet in side by side relationship, andcomprising means for varying the speed of said carriage mechanism andthe position at which a selected character on said character carrier isilluminated for imaging on the sensitized sheet, said means including aline register wherein the widths of all previously exposed charactersare cumulated, a carriage position register wherein a valuerepresentingthe instantaneous position of said carriage mechanism is stored,comparator means responsive to the values stored in said line registerand said carriage position register for producing an output indicativeof the relative position of the already composed characters and theposition of the carriage mechanism, an addition unit for modifying theoutput of said comparator means depending on the width value of thecharacter next to be composed, means for varying the speed of thecarriage mechanism and for shifting said aperture means in accordancewith the modified output of said comparator means, and means forcontrolling the exposure of a selected character whereby a composed lineis imaged in the order in which the characters are to appear.

2. A phototype composing machine according to claim 1 wherein theaddition unit for modifying the output of the comparator unit isresponsive to the widths of at least the next two characters to becomposed.

3. A phototype composing machine according toclaim 2 wherein theaddition unit modifies the output of the comparator unit by a valueequal to a value corresponding to an em quad of the maximum type size tobe composed less a value corresponding to the widths of the next twocharacters to be composed.

4. A phototype composing machine according to claim 1 wherein theexposure controlling means includes a second comparator responsive tothe output of the aforesaid comparator and the position of the charactercarrier whereby the selected character is exposed at a time dependent onwhether the carriage mechanism is ahead or behind the positionrepresented by the cumulated width of the already exposed characters

1. A phototype composing machine having a continuously rotatingcharacter carrier, aperture means through which a selected character isprojected, and a continuously moving carriage mechanism for puttingcharacter images on a sensitized sheet in side by side relationship, andcomprising means for varying the speed of said carriage mechanism andthe position at which a selected character on said character carrier isilluminated for imaging on the sensitized sheet, said means including aline register wherein the widths of all previously exposed charactersare cumulated, a carriage position register wherein a value representingthe instantaneous position of said carriage mechanism is stored,comparator means responsive to the values stored in said line registerand said carriage position register for producing an output indicativeof the relative position of the already composed characters and theposition of the carriage mechanism, an addition unit for modifying theoutput of said comparator means depending on the width value of thecharacter next to be composed, means for varying the speed of thecarriage mechanism and for shifting said aperture means in accordancewith the modified output of said comparator means, and means forcontrolling the exposure of a selected character whereby a composed lineis imaged in the order in which the characters are to appear.
 2. Aphototype composing machine according to claim 1 wherein the additionunit for modifying the output of the comparator unit is responsive tothe widths of at least the Next two characters to be composed.
 3. Aphototype composing machine according to claim 2 wherein the additionunit modifies the output of the comparator unit by a value equal to avalue corresponding to an em quad of the maximum type size to becomposed less a value corresponding to the widths of the next twocharacters to be composed.
 4. A phototype composing machine according toclaim 1 wherein the exposure controlling means includes a secondcomparator responsive to the output of the aforesaid comparator and theposition of the character carrier whereby the selected character isexposed at a time dependent on whether the carriage mechanism is aheador behind the position represented by the cumulated width of the alreadyexposed characters.